Pierce: Listen to This Casual Slavery Talk Down in Tennessee

[mcar]

This makes me want to

http://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/news/a57078/tennessee-racism/

I don't know who Becca Andrews is, but she writes for Mother Jones and I feel like throwing her a parade. The endless Forgotten White Working Class Trump Voters Economic Anxiety And No Racism spelunking since last November grew tiresome before Christmas. It has needed a purgative corrective for months now, and Ms. Andrews finally has delivered one.

It seems Ms. Andrews grew up in a small town in Crockett County, Tennessee. (Here's a soundtrack for this part of the post.) She went back there and, glorioski, she found that there are Forgotten Minority Working Class Voters there, and that they're not feeling much better than any other group of minority voters these days.

Turner's mom, who cleans houses in town for a living, went to work a couple of days after that, and her employer, an older white woman, brought up the results of the recent election. The two had talked politics before—Turner's mom is a Democrat, and her employer is a Republican. "Well, you might as well come and live with me now," the employer said. "You gonna be mine eventually." She called her daughter in tears. Turner immediately got in her car and picked her mother up to bring her home.

Last year before the election, a young woman Turner described as one of her best friends casually mentioned she hoped for a Trump victory so that he might "do away with some of these African American people." She quickly clarified that she wasn't referring to Turner's "type," but when Turner sharply asked her what she meant, she couldn't answer. Another friend assured her that it would be okay if Trump won the election because she would convince her parents to purchase Turner's family as their new slaves. In a place where a few large plantation-style houses remain scattered through the county, the "joke" feels a lot like a threat..

I'm sorry. But I'm out of patience. Racism got this guy elected and, eventually, racism is going to account for all the support he has left. Once we accept that as a nation, we can begin making sure that this catastrophic presidency never occurs in the future. And then, maybe, Becca Andrews's friends down in Crockett County can breathe a little easier.

[guillaumeb]

1. This is not a joking matter, nor are these people actually joking.

Soon WalMart will be out of white sheets and tiki torches.

[sheshe2]

2. Bookmarking to read the rest.

This should be from the Onion and sadly I know it is not.

[highplainsdem]

3. That's obscene.

[Solly Mack]

6. +1

[brewens]

4. "We'll put you n!&&3rs right back in the fields if we ever get the chance!" That's exactly the

point of the statues and monuments put up years after The Civil War. It's why the racists fly the Confederate flag and have them all over their clothes and pickups. There is no other reason than that!

We don't have a William Westmoreland monument anywhere do we?

[Hekate]

5. I read the whole thing and now I feel like vomiting. nt

[mcar]

7. In 2017. 2017.